DH dragging his feet re a new will.

Definitely make a new will. It will only take a short time to do but will save endless time, heartache and money for your children in the future.

Beware solicitors, many firms have sacked experienced people and replaced them with cheap muppets who drag it out as long as possible.

There is plenty of information on what an executor needs to do, it the estate is straightforward it should be no problem, but it is time consuming.

If spouses have put unequal monies into buying a house and they want their share to go to their children, then a Declaration of Trust must be drawn up to ensure that happens.

If a Will is written properly, you should just be able to write a codicil. Your husband is quite correct. Probate is a simple procedure and any intelligent, honest and organised person should be able to administer the Will. Paying a solicitor’s fees to write letters PLUS a percentage of the estate PLUS vat will soon deplete the average estate. Just make sure you have allowed for backups as executors so they are young enough to manage. Involving too many people will cause problems especially if one executor is bullish!

It's best to have two executors as there can be a lot of work for someone on their own. It is not just a question of choosing a friend and worrying about offending people who are not chosen as it can be quite a complicated job depending on what your assets and family circumstances are. Choose a friend or relative that has some professional skills, an accountant or lawyer, or someone who works in admin and talk to them about your wishes. Appointing a firm of solicitors may seem like the answer but it will cost a lot of money and eat into your legacies.

Luckily we had never changed our wills made in 1987 till OH died in 2011 suddenly. We were separated at the time so it was all down to me. I had his pension, the money from his house and insurances went to our daughters. I made a new will leaving our daughters as Executors and it to be split between both girls. If one died then it would go to their 'Issues' or children which I thought was fair having never considered that I would have 3 grandchildren in the past 4 years. ps my Dad's will is still valid from the 60s leaving the house to Mum and if she had passed, us 4 children to Mum's friend who has since died.

Callistemon

^Just wondering why you want your children as exectutors? Much easier to get a solicitor to do the legal stuff even for a simple will.^

Because the solicitor will charge - a lot if they can.

And you are just one client amongst many! If your family get on well and are reasonably intelligent they can save thousands of pounds by sorting matters out themselves.

Mostly the solicitor gives the job to the trainees and they are not always up to speed.

It’s probably best to discuss it with your children. Some would be quite capable and others may be daunted at the prospect.

Two experiences:
My father named solicitors as his executors. My SIL and I felt perfectly capable of executing his very simple will - he had no property (Council tenant), a few shares, a bank account and a savings account. We were told the executor’s fee would be £1,000. They would charge us £600 to transfer executorship to us. We said “You do it then.” 12 months later still not distributed. My brother read the riot act and suddenly all clear. Bill now £1,800. No, we had an agreement of £1,000, that is all you can take.
Second incident.
DH and I on second marriage with now grown up DC decided to have a review. Spoke with 2 solicitors.
Number 1 proposed a complicated series of trusts to avoid inheritance tax (way below the limit) and “protect” our children. They would have to be executor, of course. Will would cost £2,200.
Number 2 asked “Do you trust each other?” Yes, we do. “A simple will by each of you leaving everything to the other or divided equally between your DC if you are the survivor.” Sounded good to us. Charge £525.00
We are each other’s executor in the first instance and the solicitor will be executor for the survivor.
We can always get more legal advice should we need it in the future.

Please everyone update,or make a will it’s a nightmares if you don’t and make sure it is reasonably current.Take care

Dh and his brothers once made a deed of variation- an aunt had cut one of them out because she thought his wife was a spendthrift (she was) and didn’t want her having any of her money to waste.
However by the time the aunt died they were divorced, so that objection no longer existed.

Anniel
This advice is up to date:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills/

No, agree, drawing up the will is reasonable but probate is not when they add a percentage of the value of the estate to their fee

A fee for a simple will is not excessive. In fact, it can often be free of charge if a donation is made to a charity.

Being an Executor of an estate could be complicated and take a great deal of time.

Does anyone know why solicitors charge a fee PLUS a percentage of the estate. Is a fee not enough

After my husband died and everything was left to me, I looked at the will and it says if I die everything goes to my three children. I did the probate myself when husband died with the help of members of a great forum called The Motley Fool. Lots of solicitors and accountants there lead me step by step. I read in the Guardian that a bank charges huge amounts to handle a will and knew my late husband who was a retired accountant would turn in his grave. Doing it helped me deal with grief. Our son, who is youngest of 3 ( my daughter and son 1 are from a previous marriage) is the sole executor but would turn to professional help with my estate. All the children are in late50s and 2 are in their late 60s and are all friends although spread across the world. I am now 86 and wonder if I should get the will rewritten and get a solicitor to do it and be responsible for probate. If it is not too rude and intrusive can someone advice the average cost of a solicitor to do this. My place of residence is London, although for this year I am remaining in St Lucia because of the virus and will not return until next year. I would be grateful for any advice.

My Mum & Dad have just reluctantly done their will this year. They made myself and my brother Power of Attorney for both their Health & Wealth. We used a Solicitor my brother knew...sorryist thing to do. A couple of months later my Dad was diagnosed with Dementia. I have been in the process of claiming Disability Allowance for him and the DLA wanted my 16 page Power of Attorney Document for his Wealth & Property as proof...I still had not received it from the Office of Guardianship as they are so behind. I telephoned the Office of Guardianship to see where they were upto and was told that Dads Power of Attorney Document for Wealth & Property has been made 'void'. Thats because thew Solicitor used Tippex on one of the pages which you must not do and has now made it 'Void'. Problem is my Father has now been diagnosed with Dementia which was not the case when his Will was done so I dont know whats going to happen.

ExaltedWombat

Presumably you don't plan to distribute your assets when the first one of you dies? Your current wills will be 'everything to surviving spouse'. Which is what would happen anyway.

You can set up mirror wills so, yes, that would the case but then it would state what happens in the event of the second death so there would be no need to then make another will. Unless, of course, the surviving spouse remarried in which case making a new will would need to be done promptly.

My DH is the same - since we last made wills 10 -15 years ago our DDs were both single. A lot has changed, they could now be executors. One DD is now married, but both DDs have a child each and DH isn't getting any younger (neither am I, come to think of it)
DH just hums and ha's about it.!

My late stepfather asked me about 3 years before his death if I’d be executer for his will, I refused because I really didn’t get on with him for the last 6 years before his death so instead he left the job to his Solicitor. I really wished I’d swallowed my pride and agreed to do it (I wasn’t due to inherit anything from his will, nor was that the reason I refused, he trusted me implicitly) as I watched his Solicitor after his death rip off his estate to an unbelievable amount, my stepfather would be turning in his grave watching him do it. It was to the point that the beneficiaries solicitor (his own children’s adult solicitor) was going to formally write to the solicitor and complain and take it further if they couldn’t get any satisfactory answers as to where some of the money went! So take my tip please don’t leave a solicitor to be an executor unless he’s a family friend or you know them to be totally trustworthy. Money brings out the worst in some people after death.

My sister and I were named as executors of my dad's will. She had done the job previously for her partner when his dad died so she knew the ropes. I wrote a letter accepting her responsibility for the admin and happily took a back seat. My other sister was huffed at not being named as an executor in the will. That caused more bad feeling than anything else.

Wills can be quite flexible. I wrote a deed of variation to enable my sons to benefit from my portion of their grandad's estate and thereby not be taxed. You can Google deed of variation but it's on the gov.uk website so you can also search there. You don't need to pay a solicitor to do it and it's perfectly legal.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Crispy123

Gosh Coco51 that is horrible. I am worried about the executors to our wills as our son and daughter don't get on and I feel our son will walk all over our daughter but we don't want to offend our son by just having our daughter.

Then get a solicitor to be executor. That way fairness is ensured.

IMHO it's a good idea to get legal advice on a will but not a good idea to use a solicitor as one of or the only executor. Solicitors charge a fortune for their time.

If you can't or don't want to appoint your children as executors then it is best to see if a trusted friend who is reasonably intelligent is willing to do it. That person can seek legal advice on the tasks involved if and when they need it. You could provide for them to receive a small sum in your will as a thank you.

You don't need to write a new will, you just need to amend it. It is referred as a codicil. Any solicitor will enter a codicil (amendment) to your original will. It is a lot cheaper than writing a new will.

Re handwritten wills, I’ve seen one not so long ago, made when the person was terminally ill, with very wobbly handwriting. He was unmarried and left everything to a lifelong woman friend, so it was very simple. Duly dated and witnessed, it was perfectly valid.